June 30, 2011

Indy Car 4th of July Fireworks!

Happy 4th of July weekend if you are in the USA. That time of year means fireworks, and there are several contributions.

Indy Lights owner Mark Olson got himself banned from the series through the end of 2012. His infraction? Pulling his cars out of the race in Milwaukee and encouraging fellow teams to do the same. His dander was up because he was convinced Sam Schmidt was cheating. Turns out he was not, but merely taking advantage of a non-rule regarding tire stagger. To some it appears Olson just ran out of money and wanted to grandstand a bit. Regardless, Indy Lights needs a lot more teams than it has, so this is a particularly punitive action.

Indy Car and ESPN extended their exclusive negotiating window to renew a deal that has essentially been alive for 47 years. Given the bastard stepchild status Indy Car has received over the past dozen years they would already be out on their behinds if I was negotiating. Fortunately, I am not. The lawyer they got to do it is exceedingly qualified, however, and it is my hope that whoever they go with has all terms related to promotion and coverage clearly spelled out. The best kind of fireworks possible would be for an all inclusive partnership with NBC. We shall see.

NBC is the way to go. Stay away from ABC/ESPN unless it’s the only option. It’s not the only option, because VS (NBC) Sports could be a blessing. They have a contract too (let’s not forget that). ESPN is so hung up with NASCAR that IndyCar will never be given the coverage it needs to grow. Frankly, I feel they don’t want it to grow, they want to beat it down.

Disney has spent a ton of money to have NASCAR and they must give that series all they have to make it work. There’s nothing left for IndyCar there. And growing what is looked at as a competitor to NASCAR does not help ESPN’s situation with the huge investement they have made with Stockcars.